Change Vacation Hotel — Dali, China

We daresay that this hotel in China’s Yunnan province won’t be winning any prizes any time soon for grammatically precise branding. However, there’s no gainsaying its thoughtful intentions and the purpose of its designers, Co-Direction Interior Design who have transformed a former private residence into a charming 19-room property.
The location of the hotel – in the middle of Dali’s old city – informs much of its aesthetics. In particular, the layered courtyards and the extensive use of bamboo, grey bricks, peaked roofs and exposed raftered ceilings are a gentle ode to traditional residential architecture. Gentle, because Co-Direction hews off the classic references in the bedrooms with rigorously modern and customized furnishings.
‘We respected the character of the original public spaces,’ says design director Jiang Xiao-Lin. ‘We didn’t do much design here, except to enrich the spatial experience with furnishings. It was in the guestrooms that we were particularly able to express the local tradition in a contemporary way.’
The amenities are fairly limited – there is no spa and the bijou restaurant serves only breakfast – though the hotel is particularly enthusiastic about the reflective pond on the ground floor whose mirror-flat surface brings in the sky through the elongated sky-well. Meanwhile, an outdoor deck offers lovely views of distant Cangshan mountains.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
53 Bo Ai Road
PHOTOGRAPHY
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Jing Xu-Feng
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
The Wallpaper* Design Issue comes with our Salone del Mobile must-sees
The May 2025 issue of Wallpaper* is on sale now, taking in Milan Design Week, the Venice Biennale, and a very stylish tea party
By Bill Prince Published
-
Aboard Gio Ponti's colourful Arlecchino train in Milan, a conversation about design with Formafantasma
The design duo boards Gio Ponti’s train bound for the latest Prada Frames symposium at Milan Design Week
By Laura May Todd Published
-
The ultimate high-performance earbuds, courtesy of McLaren and Bowers & Wilkins
The new Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 McLaren Edition continues a decade’s worth of cross-pollination between these two tech-focused British manufacturers
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Prada and Wong Kar-wai dream up a cinematic restaurant in Shanghai
Prada partners with Wong Kar-wai to bring Mi Shang Rong Zhai to life, a dining experience influenced by the arthouse director’s seminal oeuvre
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Enjoy heritage views and contemporary brews at a new Beijing café
JM Café, White Pagoda Temple by B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio nods to the history of the Xicheng District while injecting a shot of vitality
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy design
There’s more magic to the movies at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s ‘flying’ roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
China’s Alila Shanghai hotel is a stylish hub of idle tranquillity
Alila Shanghai, the brand's first urban resort in Greater China, is a serene bolthole amidst the pulse of the Jing'an district
By Daven Wu Published
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this year
From the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Travel back to the Ming dynasty at Beijing’s new Mandarin Oriental hotel
Mandarin Oriental Qianmen merges traditional culture with contemporary needs in a 600-year-old historical building complex
By Kee Foong Published
-
Inside Palazzo Versace Macau, a lavish, mosaic-rich hotel
Palazzo Versace Macau, the brand’s first hotel in Asia, continues to preserve Donatella Versace’s swanky hospitality vision
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
'Retreat and recharge' in Yanbai Villa on a secluded Beijing shoreline
Yanbai Villa wraps guests in quiet luxury, opening its doors on a secluded Beijing shoreline
By Daven Wu Published